Safety razor



April 1 1934- s. B. HEPPENSTALL JR 1,955,460

SAFETY RAZOR Filed April 20, 1933 WH'NESSES INVENTOR Patented Apr. 17, 1934 I i FEQ SAFETY RAZGR Samuel B. Heppenstall,

.ln, Pittsburgh, Pa, as-

signor to Heppenstall Company, Pittsburgh,

Pa, a corporation oi Pennsylvania.

Application April 20, 1933, Serial No. 666,974

1 Claim.

The invention relates to safety razors, and particularly to the type in which a renewable blade is clamped between guard and clamping plates drawn together by a handle member.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a safety razor which may be quickly and easily assembled; which retains any desired adjustinent of blade flexion; which is composed of only two loose parts; in which there is secure connection of a clamping plate with the remainder or" the razor; and in which a rotatable stem is quickly, easily and permanently locked within a tubular handle member.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, of which 1 is a longitudinal section of a razor before assembly for use; and Fig. 2 a side View partly in section of the razor after assembly.

Referring to the drawing, a guard plate 1 is provided with an opening 2 through its center,

and with blade-positioning studs 3 projecting from one or" its sides. From the opposite side of the guard plate there extends a handle member 4 provided with a longitudinal bore 5 axially aligned with opening 2. The inner end of the bore is enlarged to form an annular shoulder 6, and the handle member is preferably permanently joined to the guard plate.

A clamping plate 8 cooperates with the guard plate to clamp a resilient flexible blade 9 against it, the opposing faces of the plates 1 and 8 having complementary curved surfaces 10 and 12, respectively between which the blade is flexed. The clamping plate is provided with apertures 13 for receiving studs 3, and with a shank 15 projecting from its inner side 12 through opening 2 in the guard plate and into the enlarged portion of handle bore 5.

The blade is perforated in the usual manner to receive the shank and studs, and the perforations may assume a variety of forms; provided, however, that the portions of the perforation, or perforations, as the case may be, which receive the studs engage them snugly. Positive alignment of the cutting edges of the blade with guard teeth 16, formed along opposite edges of the guard plate, is thereby obtained, since the blade is held by the studs in fixed position with respect to the guard plate.

To draw the clamping plate toward the guard plate for clamping the blade 9 in operative position, there is provided a stem 17 which is slidably and rotatably disposed within bore 5 of the handle member where it is adapted to threaded- ;ly engage shank 15. The inner end of this stem,

(Cl. 3ll--l2) that is, a portion thereof lying within the enlarged portion of bore 5, is preferably provided with an interiorly threaded socket 18 adapted to receive shank 15 which has cooperating threads for engagement therewith.

A knob-like member 20, joined to the outer end of the stem, serves as a finger grip for rotating the stem in assembling or disassembling the razor and in adjusting the flexing of the blade. Both the handle member and the knob may be knurled to permit of a better grip thereon, and the knob may conveniently be made integral with the stem.

knob also limits movement of the stem inwardly of the handle member by abutting against the outer end of the latter.

it is a feature of this invention that the stem is not held in fixed longitudinal position relative to the handle member. In other words, the stem is movable, within limits, toward and away from the guard plate. This feature permits rapid and easy assembly and disass mbly of the razor in addition to giving a secure connection between the stem and shank 15 while the razor is in use. Explained more in detail, in assembling the razor, shank 15 is inserted in the enlarged end of bore 5 with studs 3 entering studreoeiving apertures 13 far enough to prevent rotation of the clamping plate when the shank is threadedly engaged by the rotatable stem. It is possible for the shank to enter the handle bore far enough to permit this without being impeded by the stem because the stem is movable outwardly and away from the clamping plate, as shown in Fig. 1.

A split spring ring 21, loosely mounted in an annular groove 22 formed in the inner endportion of the stem, pr vents the stem from sliding completely out of the handle member. As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the spring ring extends far enough beyond the periphery of the stem to abut against annular shoulder 6 when the stem is retracted from the guard plate. Thus, the ring 21 and knob 20 cooperate to lock the stem in the handle member.

t is apparent that in order to obtain the benefits arising from the engagement of studs and clamping plate before engagement of shank and stem, whereby it is rendered unnecessary to manually center and guide the clamping plate during assembly, the razor should be assembled with the handle extending downward. In this position the stem falls away from the guard plate by gravity, and the blade and clamping plate may be quickly and easily dropped in place on the guard plate where they will be retained in position by studs 3, as shown in Fig. 1.

When the stem is turned to threadedly engage the shank, the interengaging threads draw it toward the guard plate until knob-like member comes into contact with the end of the handle member. Thus, not only is the clamping plate drawn toward the stem, but the stem is drawn toward the clamping plate a distance equal to the width of the space between knob 20 and the end of the handle member at the time of initial contact between stem and shank. Consequently, the shank enters socket 18 much further than it would if the stem could not be moved toward it, and a secure connection between the two is obtained, as shown in Fig. 2.

In order to permit any desired degree of flexion of the blade to be retained during a shaving operation, means is provided for resisting rotation of the stem while the blade is flexed, so as to prevent the stem from backing itself off the clamping plate shank. Accordingly, the outer end of the handle is provided with a generally conical recess 24 having an inwardly tapering wall 25, and the inner end of the knob-like member 20 is likewise generally conical with a tapering surface 26 adapted to contact throughout its area with the wall of the recess.

The tendency of the resilient flexed blade to return to its normal plane draws the conical portion of the knob into contact with the end of the handle where their tapering surfaces frictionally engage each other. The contacting portions of the knob and handle cooperate to exert a wedging action sufiicient to restrain rotation of the stem relative to the handle member while the razor is in use, regardless of the adjustment of the blade. Very slight tension of the blade suflices to induce this action, so that the razor may be adjusted to any desired blade angle between that eifected by slight flexion and that produced by drawing the clamping plate, blade and guard plate fully together. Of course, the same result is reached if the inner end of the knob is provided with a conical recess and the end of the handle has a cooperating conical portion.

To enable a desired adjustment to be reobtained at any time, the knob-like member is provided with suitable indicating means, such as a slot 28 in its end face, the position of which relative to the rest of the razor for any given adjustment may be reproduced from memory.

The split spring ring, by which the stem is locked in the handle, provides a convenient means for quickly connecting the two, as well as a strong and permanent union. The conical recess 24 at the outer end of the handle member aids in connecting the stem to the latter, because, as the stem enters the smaller end of bore 5, the spring ring is compressed into the annular groove 22 by the converging sides 25 of the recess to permit it likewise to enter the bore. When the ring reaches the enlarged portion of the bore it snaps out over shoulder 6, thereby permanently locking the stem and handle member together.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and mode of operation of my invention, and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claim, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate having a generally convex blade-receiving surface and provided with a central opening, a clamping plate provided with a threaded shank extending through said opening, a handle member connected to the guard plate and provided with a longitudinal bore axially aligned with said opening and having a shoulder therein, the outer end of the handle member having a funnelshaped recess leading into the bore, a one-piece stem slidably and rotatably disposed in said bore and threaded at its inner end for engaging said shank to draw said plates together, the outer end of the stern being provided with an enlarged portion for limiting movement of the stem inwardly of the handle member, said stem being provided with an annular groove between said shoulder and guard plate, and a split spring ring disposed in said groove for abutting against said shoulder to limit outward movement of the stem, said funnel-shaped recess being adapted to compress the ring into the groove in assembling the handle to permit the stem to be forced into said bore, the inner face of the enlarged portion of the stem being tapered to conform with and engage the face of said recess, tension of a resilient blade flexed between said plates drawing said engaging faces into wedging contact to restrain rotation of said stem relative to said handle member.

SAIVIUEL B. HEPPENSTALL, JR. 

